1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a landing gear assembly for an airplane and, in particular, to a landing gear assembly that maintains the desired cabin space and prevents foreign-object damage (FOD) while the airplane is taxiing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nose landing gear assemblies that are retractable into the fuselage of an airplane include an actuator for lifting and lowering the nose landing gear and a steering device for steering the airplane during taxiing, the actuator and the steering device being disposed around the nose landing gear. The actuator is generally located below the floor of the airplane cabin. The steering device includes a steering mechanism such as a steering cable coupled to the nose landing gear, and the steering mechanism is generally positioned in the vicinity of the central axis of the fuselage.
However, the conventional position of the actuator and the steering device has not been optimum from the standpoint of maximizing the space in the aircraft cabin for better comfort. More specifically, the actuator positioned below the floor of the cabin has been an obstacle to efforts to lower the cabin floor, and hence has limited the vertical dimension of the cabin space. The location of the steering mechanism in the vicinity of the central axis of the fuselage has posed a limitation on the longitudinal dimension of the cabin especially in the case where the airplane is of the type in which the cabin is a pressurized cabin with a spherical pressure bulkhead. Since the spherical pressure bulkhead usually has its spherical wall positioned on the central axis of the fuselage, the spherical wall tends to interfere with the steering device if the cabin were to extend forward.
The location of the steering mechanism in the vicinity of the central axis of the fuselage has also been disadvantageous in that the space for the steering cable coupled to the nose landing gear is limited vertically.
When the actuator and the steering device are positioned on the central axis of the fuselage in the wheel bay of the landing gear, they are exposed to the external space and hence subject to FOD due to stones or other foreign matter during taxiing, taking-off and landing when the nose landing gear is lowered.